ELISABETH FRINK COLLECTION

D-FRK

ELISABETH FRINK COLLECTION

c1870-2020

The archive collection of Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink CH DBE RA [14 Nov 1930-18 Apr 1993], who was a distinguished and acclaimed sculptor and artist, latterly living at Woolland House near Blandford Forum in Dorset. She was married three times - firstly to Michel Jammet with whom she had a son, Rene Lin Bree Jammet [Lin Jammet, 1958-2017, himself an artist and whose records also appear in this collection]; secondly to Edward Pool [Ted Pool]; and finally to Hungarian born Count Alexander Csaky [Alex Csaky] with whom she settled at Woolland, and who managed her business affairs during this period [Note: not Elizabeth Frink; sometimes known by family and friends as Lis or Liz]

The archive consists of a great deal of photographic material which is a mixture of personal and professional. There is also a substantial collection of correspondence, papers, printed material including books and exhibition catalogues, and other records related to Frink's artistic career (from art school to her death i.e. the late 1940s-1993). In addition there are a small number of smaller bronze sculptures and plaster maquettes, some original artwork, some prints, and ephemera. There are some personal records as well, including a small quantity of historical Frink related family material [Elisabeth Frink's mother, Jean Frink, also lived at Woolland and outlived her daughter]

English

The archive collection was inherited and added to by Lin Jammet who initially lived at Woolland House after the death of his mother. It was then moved to his next home at Tut Hill, near Sherborne, Dorset. Following his death, and with the assistance of the Curator to the Frink Estate, Annette Ratuszniak [who also edited the 2013 published Elisabeth Frink Catalogue Raisonne of Sculpture 1947-1993], his heirs ensured the collection was provided to Dorset History Centre. With the help of several private donors, a grant from the Henry Moore Foundation and support from the Dorset Archives Trust, an archivist was appointed to catalogue and repackage the collection during 2019-2020. There was no specific original order relating to Frink herself, and there had already been several iterations of ordering following her death. The boxes were often very mixed in terms of their content. Because of this it was decided to follow a subject specific cataloguing structure rather than one based on individual box contents and original order. A particular series or file may therefore contain material from several accessions and many different boxes. The collection was accessioned at Dorset History Centre over a period of nearly a decade, received both from Lin Jammet while he was still alive, and by his heirs and estate following his death